HKSAR v. Muyonga Jacquiline Andalo
Read the full judgment text of CACC 305/2009 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 23 February 2010 before Stock VP, Wright J.
Criminal law – drug trafficking – heroin – sentencing – leave to appeal sentence – Lau Tak-ming guidelines – Applicant, a 37-year-old Kenyan national, pleaded guilty to a single charge of trafficking 505.35 grammes of heroin hydrochloride on 30 June 2008, having arrived at Hong Kong International Airport from Nepal with the drugs concealed in a sock in her underwear – She was driven by recent childbirth in November 2008 and poverty, and agreed to carry the drugs for a reward of US$4,000 – The quantity fell within the fifth band of the guidelines in Lau Tak-ming and Ano [1990] 2 HKLRD 370, prescribing 15 to 20 years' imprisonment for 400 to 600 grammes of heroin – The sentencing judge adopted a starting point of 17.5 years and declined to grant any discount beyond the one-third reduction for the guilty plea, resulting in a final sentence of 11 years 8 months – Whether the sentence was manifestly excessive or wrong in principle – Held, no: the starting point was correct, the judge was entitled to refuse further mitigation, and the international element of the trafficking would in fact have justified a higher starting point – Application for leave to appeal dismissed – No merit in the application.
Legal issues: Whether the sentence of 11 years 8 months for trafficking 505.35 grammes of heroin was manifestly excessive or wrong in principle
Outcome: Application for leave to appeal against sentence dismissed; no merit in the application.
Cited by 1 case
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CACC 305/2009 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF APPEAL CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 305 OF 2009 (ON APPEAL FROM HCCC NO. 171 of 2009) ____________ BETWEEN
____________ Before: Hon Stock VP and Wright J. Date of Hearing: 23 February 2010 Date of Judgment: 23 February 2010 _______________ JUDGMENT _______________ Hon Wright, J. (giving the judgment of the Court): 1.The applicant, a 37 year old native of Kenya, seeks leave to appeal the sentence of 11 years 8 months imprisonment imposed upon her by His Honour Judge Geiser sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court after her plea of guilty to a single charge of trafficking 505.35 grammes of heroin hydrochloride on 30 June 2008. She arrived from Nepal at Hong Kong International airport. When she was searched the drugs were found in a sock in her underwear. 2.The judge correctly recognized that the quantity of drugs fell into the fifth band set out LAU Tak-ming and Ano [1990] 2 HKLRD 370, which indicates a sentence of between 15 and 20 years imprisonment for a quantity between 400 and 600 grammes. The judge took the view that the appropriate starting point was one of 17.5 years imprisonment: that was correct. 3.Her personal circumstances, including the fact that she had recently given birth in November 2008, were made known to the judge as was the fact that, driven by her pregnancy and poverty, she had agreed to carry the drugs for a reward of US$4000. She has told us nothing today which was not before the judge. The judge indicated that he felt himself unable to afford the applicant any discount in addition to the one which her plea of guilty attracted. 4.In our view he was correct in that approach. Moreover, given that there was an international element in the trafficking the judge would have been entitled to have taken a higher starting point. The applicant thus enjoys the benefit of a sentence lower than otherwise would have been appropriate. 5.There is no merit in the application which is dismissed.
Ms Vinci Lam, Senior Public Prosecutor, Department of Justice, for Respondent. Applicant in person. |
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